8:51 AM,
Aug. 29, 2013

Julian And Thal Wendrow talk to the Free Press about their ordeal in their lawyer's office in Bloomfield Hills on Feb. 8, 2011. Julian Wendrow was falsely accused of repeatedly raping his severely autistic daughter and Thal Wendrow was accused of failing to stop it.

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A U.S. Court of Appeals ruling on Wednesday allows a West Bloomfield couple's lawsuit to proceed to trial over claims that their constitutional rights were violated after the father was accused of raping their autistic daughter, leading to a prosecution that a judge later described as a "runaway train."

The appeals court said governmental immunity doesn't shield Oakland County prosecutors, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools officials and staffers from the Michigan Department of Human Services from liability for their actions in the case.